I'll never not be impressed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
No, it's not a masterpiece. But it is an elevation of the source material by a huge amount. The comics it's based on - which I love - are quite simplistic. The cartoon is a variation of them for a younger audience. And yet the movie, almost perversely, takes it seriously, and tries to create a realistic version of it. It does this by taking advantage of it's low budget to use real New York locations, with a gritty, gloomy, urban look. Dingy warehouses. Shadowy sewers and rooftops. All distinctly unglamorous. A lot of it could be documentary footage. This gives it a real world feel that very few superhero movies achieve.
On top of that, the Turtles, whilst comedic plenty of the time, are also given traits of real teenagers. They squabble, they lark around, they storm off in a huff. Raphael has real anger issues, and it's not sugar-coated or happily resolved. Then you have the Foot Clan. Robots in the cartoon, here they are disaffected, lost kids who are promised a purpose and a place to fit in by manipulative adults. It's all surprisingly emotionally genuine. It asks over and over, what constitutes a family? What connection do you need?
I don't even need to comment on the wonderfully expressive Jim Henson costumes, yet to be bettered even with top rate CGI, or the authentic martial arts battles, performed by Hong Kong's Golden Harvest stunt team. The best animatronic company in the business, and real kung fu performers. It's all you could ever ask for with regards to the Turtles.
Finally - it's far better than it needed to be. In 1990, any Turtles movie would have been huge - as evidenced by the watered-down sequel which came out less than 12 months later. But director Steve Baron and co avoided the simple cash-in route, and made the best movie they could. And it's even better than the source material it's based on. It's the best Ninja Turtles thing there is.
No, it's not a masterpiece. But it is an elevation of the source material by a huge amount. The comics it's based on - which I love - are quite simplistic. The cartoon is a variation of them for a younger audience. And yet the movie, almost perversely, takes it seriously, and tries to create a realistic version of it. It does this by taking advantage of it's low budget to use real New York locations, with a gritty, gloomy, urban look. Dingy warehouses. Shadowy sewers and rooftops. All distinctly unglamorous. A lot of it could be documentary footage. This gives it a real world feel that very few superhero movies achieve.
On top of that, the Turtles, whilst comedic plenty of the time, are also given traits of real teenagers. They squabble, they lark around, they storm off in a huff. Raphael has real anger issues, and it's not sugar-coated or happily resolved. Then you have the Foot Clan. Robots in the cartoon, here they are disaffected, lost kids who are promised a purpose and a place to fit in by manipulative adults. It's all surprisingly emotionally genuine. It asks over and over, what constitutes a family? What connection do you need?
I don't even need to comment on the wonderfully expressive Jim Henson costumes, yet to be bettered even with top rate CGI, or the authentic martial arts battles, performed by Hong Kong's Golden Harvest stunt team. The best animatronic company in the business, and real kung fu performers. It's all you could ever ask for with regards to the Turtles.
Finally - it's far better than it needed to be. In 1990, any Turtles movie would have been huge - as evidenced by the watered-down sequel which came out less than 12 months later. But director Steve Baron and co avoided the simple cash-in route, and made the best movie they could. And it's even better than the source material it's based on. It's the best Ninja Turtles thing there is.